The first thing Fie usually did after waking was to stretch in bed. It was an absolutely critical part of her morning routine as it made sure she was light and limber for the day ahead. Or at least that was how she justified her actions to others.
She just liked having the excuse to stay in bed for as long as possible. Mornings sucked.
But as she lay in bed she found stretching to be impossible. Not because she didn't want to, but because she physically couldn't. It was the tragic price she paid to be completely sandwiched between her two most favorite people in the world.
Not only was being trapped between Rean and Laura a mild inconvenience for her, but it was also a little painful as the much heavier Rean had rolled onto one of her arms while sleeping. Still, it was something she'd gladly endure, especially as it gave her a hell of a view.
Both of them were completely naked, after all, and neither of her two lovers had bothered with a blanket after exhausting themselves the previous night. Fie wasn't sure what felt better to her – the soft thing pressed into her front courtesy of Laura, or the long and thick object pressed against her thigh.
It was a shame one of her arms was trapped because she really needed both of them to molest both of them at the same time.
Fie grimaced. Eww. Even in the deranged ramblings of her mind that sounded awfully bad. It was the kind of thing someone like Angelica might suggest, after all.
"Mmm..." Her inner turmoil on the merits of molesting Laura and Rean were put to rest when the former groaned as she began to wake. Unlike Fie Laura was usually quick to rise, but watching the older girl slowly come to terms with her consciousness made it obvious to the professional sleeper that her friend slash rival slash lover was still completely out of it.
Still, even if it took a while, inevitably the blue-haired girl would wake. It took only a few seconds after opening her eyes for Laura's amber gaze to meet Fie's lime, "Mmm... Morning, Fie."
"Morning, sleepyhead." She gazed fondly at the girl, "You look tired."
"Mmm... Yeah. I feel it. What time is it?"
The silver-haired girl couldn't help but grin devilishly. Good on Laura to ask that question so quickly. This was gonna be funny, "A little after noon."
"I see..." Laura blinked before resting her head back on the pillow. Clearly the girl still wasn't fully coherent, which only made it even funnier. Mentally Fie began counting in her head.
One.. The Arseid blinked a couple times.
Two... Her brow furrowed as she thought of something.
Three... Laura's eyes widened in horror.
Four... "After noon!?" She shrieked, "B-But isn't it a school day?!"
"Yeah... It was." Maybe one day she'd decide to lay off on teasing Laura, but it wouldn't be this day. The absolute glare she received for that snarky reminder was absolutely worth it.
Teasing Laura was her guilty pleasure in life. She was just too adorable to resist.
A tired groan opposite the the Arseid gave the two girls heads-up that her loud cry had woken the third member of their little trio, "What's going on...?" Rean tiredly asked.
"What's going on is that it's already after noon and we've missed most of the day!" Laura answered hotly.
"Huh. That's odd." Like Laura before him Rean's immediate response was rather muted owing to his state of exhaustion, but unlike her he didn't seem to gain that spark even as comprehension dawned on him, "I could've sworn I made sure to set the alarm before we fell asleep..."
"You did. I made sure to turn it off once I came in."
"You what!?" Oh yeah. Fie's comment definitely caught Laura's ire. " Y-You...! W-Why would you do that!?" Surprisingly Rean remained silent, but a quick turn of her head was enough to confirm he was at least giving her a curious stare.
Good old Rean. Always willing to listen to others before passing judgment. Well, better not let him down.
"Do you even know just how late you two were up banging last night?" Laura did her best to maintain her stern visage, but the crude comment was enough to cause her to flush scarlet, "Well I do - It was really damn late. I had to wait hours for you two to wear yourselves out with nothing but that piece of cake you tried to hide to keep me company."
Fie nodded sagely at their expressions, "Yup. I knew you'd be super tired today. I mean neither of you woke when I got into bed, right?" Especially since she'd taken the middle slot, which was no small feat even for her! "Going to class like that would suck."
"But..." Even though the anger had left her expression Laura still tried to protest, "What about school? We're going to be late! And what kind of excuse could we possibly give for that!?"
This time the crafty jaeger offered her best attempt at a shrug – Rean still hadn't freed her arm, after all, "How about instead of showing up to class for like the final hour or so we just go back to bed and worry about it tomorrow? Gives you more time to come up with an excuse, doesn't it?"
Plus showing up refreshed after a day would be a lot less suspicious than showing up at the end of the day looking exhausted and haggard. Maybe she should've let Laura have her way because it would've been hilarious to watch her try and make an excuse for their sloven appearances.
"I..." Laura moved her mouth, but no words were coming forth. Instead she looked towards another source for help, "You've been awfully silent, Rean. What do you think we should do?"
Fie too turned her attention to the quiet boy, curious for his answer. Surprisingly the hero didn't respond verbally, or in any other way, but his silence was enough for Fie to grin victoriously.
He had fallen back asleep.
"Geez I knew you guys were busy last night, but how hard did you go in order to wear him out like that?"
"Fie!"
"I mean even if you wanted to go to class can you even walk right now?"
"F-Fie!"
Oh yes. Definitely a guilty pleasure.
"One day you shall receive your comeuppance." The blue-haired swordswoman warned as she glared daggers at her bed mate.
"Looking forward to it." Even if the punishments weren't always fun for her seeing the normally composed Arseid lose her cool was almost as much a treat as the teasing itself was to the irreverent girl.
Fie let out a yawn. Despite not having engaged in the fun exertions her companions had this was prime time for a nap, "So...?"
Laura let out an unimpressed grunt, but Fie could see the capitulation in her eyes before she even spoke, "Fine. I can see that trying to get the two of you to do anything would be entirely fruitless. Go back to sleep, but know that we'll be discussing this later."
"Yay!" She rewarded the blue-haired girl with a quick peck on the lips, which caused her to redden slightly despite her best attempts at appearing stern, "You gonna join us?"
"No. Someone needs to take charge around here. There's a recipe I've been wanting to try, and it should be ready by the time you useless layabouts are ready to get out of bed." Laura began sliding herself to the edge of the bed.
Fie's grin was hidden as she dug her head back into her pillow. The jaeger within her could never have imagined that domesticated life could be so fun! All the chaos and insanity one could expect from a battlefield, but without the loss and suffering that usually came with it. It was the best of both worlds for a girl that grew up in the fires of war.
There was a thud as Laura finally got off the bed, but that was more than offset by a much louder thud as she tried and failed to put weight on her legs before tumbling over gracelessly, providing a hilarious answer to Fie's earlier question, "Oww..."
Yep. Domesticated life was the best.
Combat classes as a second year student were a lot different from those in his first year. That was something Rean came to realize as he stood in the academy fields waiting for said class to begin. Not only were his class and instructor different, but the lesson itself was something neither he nor anyone else in that field had ever experienced before.
This was the first day of Panzer Soldat training.
Bridget glanced away from the combat instructor's speech about how the class was going to operate,"I'm surprised you even need to take this class, Rean."
"He's not." One nice thing about this introduction to Panzer Soldats was that instead of doing it by class like they usually did the school had elected to spend the entire day explaining everything to all five classes at once. Thus he didn't bat an eye when the mop of unruly silver hair appeared in his periphery, "They told Rean he didn't need to show up if he didn't want to, but we all know Rean."
Under several pairs of scrutinizing gazes he couldn't help but shrank back sheepishly, "I could have passed, sure, but it wasn't like I had anything better to do today. Plus, Valimar isn't the same as piloting a soldat. I'm just as curious to pilot one of these things as you guys are."
"Well, even if they're different let's just say I definitely don't ever want to get partnered against you." A few of the other students laughed at Kenneth's remark, which caused the combat instructor to glare in their direction.
Apparently their new teacher wasn't actually a full-fledged teacher, but was someone on loan from one of the Imperial Army's first soldat formations in order to train the next generation of future Imperial Officers at Thors. It was definitely a change of pace for him and the other students going from Instructor Sara to an officer who was even stricter than Instructor Neithardt had been.
...Something which made the fact that Rean had far more hours in the cockpit of a war machine feel a little awkward.
Listening to the instructor's speech about what they should and shouldn't do inside a soldat increased that awkwardness even further. Sure, he mentally reminded himself, he could do moves inside of Valimar that no soldat could reasonably accomplish, but even with that consideration taken into account there were a few things the teacher had said that he vehemently disagreed with. Even if he'd never piloted a soldat before he had fought quite a few, so it was hard for him to bite his tongue on those moments when the instructor said something he believed to be completely wrong.
The others would hopefully figure out those mistakes with a little time and experience. He definitely planned on telling Laura and Fie some of his more advanced tricks as soon as possible.
"Now that we have concluded the oral part of this lesson... does anyone want to volunteer to be the first pilot?" The instructor said after he concluded his speech, "If nobody steps up I'll just have to start picking names at random..."
Rean couldn't help but notice a few glances sent his way – even the instructor himself sent the swordsman a hopeful look! - but he gave a minute shake of his head. Eventually his time would come, but he had no desire to go first. There would be so many expectations placed on his performance and if he matched those lofty goals that would just set an impossible bar for the others to follow.
"Allow me to attempt it, Instructor!"
He couldn't help but chuckle proudly. When you needed someone bold to step up first the correct answer would always be Laura. This time he paid more attention as the teacher gave her instructions on how to enter and start a soldat before allowing her to enter one of the two Drakkhens they had brought out for training purposes.
Rean had a feeling she'd do pretty good. Even if the mass-produced robots weren't as skillful as Valimar they still relied on the pilot's skill as a warrior far more than something like a tank would. Laura was the most skilled sword fighter in their age group, so surely she'd have little difficulty in learning how to maximize the potential of her Drakkhen-
He blinked, "Why are you hiding behind me?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Fie retorted, "You're my human shield now."
Seeing her like this was unsettling. Why did she look so terrified? "W-What do you mean? Why do you need a human shield?"
"Really? Are you an idiot?" Well that was rude. With a roll of her eyes the lithe jaeger jabbed a finger past him towards the closest machine, "What is that?"
Despite scrutinizing the situation carefully he saw nothing amiss with the scene. All he could see was Laura disappearing into the cockpit of the Drakkhen. There was nothing wrong with her or the machine so why-
"Oh my Goddess..."
The Ashen Chevalier paled as a feeling of dread settled into the pit of his stomach.
The problem wasn't Laura, nor was it the machine.
The problem was that Laura was now inside the machine. A machine with the capacity for unlimited destruction and chaos.
And she was the biggest technophobe they knew.
He now understood why Fie was using him as a human shield, but at the same time he had no desire to be the human shield.
The Second Form was an extremely versatile form. Usually he used it to overwhelm his opponents in battle with raw speed – or to simply keep up with his fastest opponents. But in that moment he used it solely to escape from Fie's clutches as quickly as possible...
"H-Hey! That's not fair!" ...And to reappear behind her.
"I'm sick of being the human shield! It's your turn!"
"I don't block! I dodge!" To prove her point she managed to slip around his grasping fingers before spinning around him, once again placing him between the now starting Drakkhen and the girl who seemingly wanted him to die.
Using his superior strength he grabbed onto the smaller girl before placing her back in front of him where she belonged, "You don't want to go down in history as the person who murdered the Ashen Chevalier! The country would eat you alive!"
"You don't get to use your stupid title when it benefits you! That's not how this works!" It was difficult to keep his grip as Fie struggled with all her might to escape, but his desire to survive granted him the strength needed to endure.
"It is now!"
"What are you two miscreants doing!?"
Rean blinked. He had completely forgotten that they weren't the only ones in the field, with Patrick being the one to call them out. This time he was able to ignore the myriad looks sent his way as he realized there was opportunity here.
Given the way Fie slackened in his arms he had a feeling she was of the same mind.
"Wh-What!? Schwarzer, Claussell, what in Aidios' name are the two of you doing!?"
What they were doing was using the Hyarms son as their new shield, not that he had any intention of telling Patrick that. "O-Oh look, she's starting!" The distraction worked and after shooting the pair of cowards one final glance the ranking noble turned his focus towards his newest classmate, causing Rean to exhale in relief.
With his safety assured the swordsman followed suit and watched as Laura began moving the Drakkhen around. The first steps were unsurprisingly tentative, but she seemed to catch on quickly as they became more confident after a few repetitions. A part of him expected to see the girl topple her machine, but the steady gait with which she moved the soldat proved the opposite of those worries.
Under the instructor's careful guidance the Arseid took the machine in a lap around the field, after which he had her do it again, but this time in a run. The third lap came with the soldat's wheels deployed, which was something Rean was looking forward to doing himself. Sure Valimar could move far quicker than a Drakkhen, but his Divine Knight didn't have wheels on it's feet to ride around on!
"Huh... She's not doing too bad." Fie grudgingly admitted as the Drakkhen began to swing the standard short sword in its hands around. "I'll do better though."
"Do you have to make everything into a competition?" He asked as the two soldats began a mock battle. Rean could even see Laura trying to mimic some of her Arseid moves despite using a standard issue Drakkhen short sword. It reminded him of his feeble attempts at using his Eight Leaves inside Valimar before having his tachi crafted. Still, luckily for her the instructor wasn't like Scarlet or Crow had been and was more than content to let her attempt her attacks without trying to impede her.
"Not really, but it's funner this way." She admitted with no shame at all, "You think they'll get some of those advanced models at some point? That one that Scarlet was using seems pretty fun."
As skilled as Scarlet had been, Rean couldn't help but shudder to think of what a natural speedster like Fie could do with a machine like the Kestrel. Even with Valimar that didn't sound like a very fun fight for him at all.
"You know..." Fie mused from their shared cover as they watched Laura and the soldat instructor begin a sparring match, "We've been really looking forward to learning how to pilot these things."
"Oh?"
"You being the Ashen Chevalier. It sucks and I hate it, but we know there's no changing it now. But the absolute worst part about it is how helpless the rest of us feel when you're fighting in Valimar."
Despite the frustration visible on her face he couldn't help but interject, "But the-"
"But the combat links. Yeah, we know." Fie cut him off snidely, "It's something, but we want to do more. We couldn't do anything when you fought the Noble Alliance or when you fought Vulcan and Scarlet. And your fight against Crow..."
She shook her head, but her frustration was still plainly visible, "I know we won't ever be as good as you in Valimar, but Laura and I both want to get good enough at piloting a soldat to back you up if possible when things get crazy again."
"Fie..." He was touched by her sentiment, he truly was...
But at the same time he couldn't help but think back to the last moment he fought alongside someone in Valimar. That moment when a barbed tail pierced through Ordine's chest and led his friend to an early grave. It was a moment that would haunt him for his remaining days.
Could he really risk going through something like that again?
But as he gazed at her he realized the point was a moot one. There was warmth in her eyes, yes, but behind that warmth was a dangerous heat. Daring to tell her otherwise would unleash an apocalyptic wrath upon him, especially since it sounded like she was speaking for Laura too.
Rean couldn't help but chuckle. Others liked to joke at how whipped he was, but if only they realized just how true it was. But there were worse fates in life than to have two of the most forceful girls he knew keeping him in line.
"Alright. I'll see what I can do, but not for a while. I won't risk taking either of you anywhere until I'm sure you can you can pilot one of these things well." Given how skilled the two girls were he had a feeling that wouldn't take long, even if he set extremely high standards for them to pass, but at least it bought him some peace of mind for a little while longer.
He was rewarded for his correct answer as Fie stood on her toes in order to pat him on the head, "Good boy..."
The swordsman knew it was a double standard as he loved doing it to her, but having his head patted like this was so demeaning! Especially as she was so much shorter than he was. And did she need to treat him like a dog in front of all the other students!?
Luckily he was saved from the snickering of everyone around him as the soldat duel appeared to be reaching its climax.
Although the trainer was holding back immensely for the sake of the students Rean couldn't help but feel a swell of pride as Laura launched her final attack. It was clumsy, crude, and a pale bastardization of her usual move, but there was no doubt in his mind her Drakkhen was performing a Radiant Waltz. Despite using a short sword she was still able to put enough force into the strike to knock the sword out of the opposing machine's hands.
In fact the force of the blow was so great that the sword she had just dislodged soared into the air. Higher and higher it went in a graceful arc across the field. But gravity was inexorable and it only took a few seconds for nature's law to reassert itself. Rean, Fie, and everyone around them watched in stunned silence as the steel blade descended onto the earth like a large missile.
...Right into the storage shed.
That old wooden building was designed to protect club equipment from the elements, not flying blades of death. The entire building practically evaporated into a shower of metal, splinters, and lacrosse equipment. The assembled students found themselves showered in debris.
Rean could only stare in fascinated horror as a particularly large piece of the former-building's roof slammed into Patrick with enough force to send the human shield to the ground.
"Yep. That's about what I was expecting. Laura's forever cursed with machines."
"Stop laughing! It wasn't funny!"
"You're right, you're right. It wasn't funny!" It took Fie a good moment to calm herself down enough to agree with the fuming Laura, "...It was hilarious!"
Once again she broke down into a fit of giggles and not even the Arseid's fierce glare could do anything to stop her. It didn't help the taller girls' cause that her face was glowing scarlet from mortification.
"I-I don't understand how this happened! One moment I thought I was doing well and the next..." She didn't finish verbally, instead allowing her arm to sweep over the carnage around them, "I mean this was just an accident, right!? I can't be blamed for it!"
"If you really thought that you wouldn't have instantly volunteered to clean it up."
Indeed the two girls were working together to sift through the rubble for anything salvageable. Fortunately while the building itself was totaled most of the things inside remained intact even if a lot of it was in dire need of a cleaning.
"I-I just..." The woman responsible for the mess gave a pathetic moan, "Thank you for offering to help me, by the way."
"No problem. I couldn't pass up on the chance at seeing you look so pitiful."
Did Fie deserve the dirty look she earned for that comment? Yes. Did she regret it at all? Absolutely not.
"Ugh..." Laura shook her head before affixing her gaze skyward, "Thanks to you both as well, Rean and Valimar."
"Speaking of..." Fie mused as she followed Laura's gaze to the Divine Knight casually lifting a massive chunk of wall the mere mortals would have struggled mightily with, "Are you cool being used as a construction worker?"
Valimar let out a laugh eerily reminiscent of it's pilot, "It is fine. Being piloted for something outside of battle is a nice change of pace."
"And he's certainly a lot better at this than the Drakkhen would be." Rean commented from inside the machine.
Even though he probably couldn't see her Fie rolled her eyes at him, "You say that, but you made the soldat look easy. Pretty sure the Instructor wasn't pulling any punches with you."
"Indeed, but it's clear you are far more proficient at piloting Valimar."
"Haha, yup. It was surprisingly easy to pilot the Drakkhen, but I'm grateful to have a partner like Valimar."
"And I you, my Awakener."
Fie shook her head with a groan. It was a good thing that Rean and his Divine Knight got along so well, but did they need to be so sappy about it!? It was annoying to listen to!
...Either that or she was just bitter at the realization that she and Laura were probably even lower on Rean's priority list then they had realized. First he obsessed over fishing. Then he became a bike fanatic. And now he had formed a bond with Valimar that went beyond anything they could offer him!
There was just no winning with that guy.